Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1887-10-08
TEE REV. DR.. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE's SUNDAY
SERMON.
SERMON.
TEXT: Giren to Hospitality. "-Romans

AA4t' OtUeH 70 dOSpttUtty. '--1NOulduSi
xiii. Is.
There is danger that the multiplication Of
large and commodious hotels in our towns,
and cities, and villages, will utterly extermi-
1ate that grace which Abraham exhibited
when he entertained the angels, and which
Lo' showed when he watched for guests at
the gate Of the city, and which Christ recog-
1ized as a positive requisite for entering
heaven, when he declared; 81 was a stranger
and We took Ne in"
propose to speak this morning of the trials
and rewards Of Christian hospitality. The
arst trial often comes in the within and &C.
eentricity Of the guest himself There are
great many excellent people who have pro-
euberances OF disposition, and sharp edges Of
temperament, and unpliability of character,
which make them positive nuisance in any
house where they stay. On short acquaint-
ance they will begin TO command the house
hold affairs, order the employees to unusual
service, keep unreasonable hours, use narcotics
On places offensive to sensitive nostrils, put
their feet at unusual elevations, drop the ashes
Of their Havana on costly tapestry, open
bureaus they ought never to touch, and pry
into things they ought never to see, and be-
come impervious to rousing bells, and have
all the peculiarities of the gormandizer or the
ayspeptic, and make excavations from poor
dentistry with unusual implements, and in
4 thousand ways afIiict the household which
they stay too long. They have no idea when
eheir welcome is worn out, and they
would be unmoved even by the blessing
which my friend Gerrit Smith, the Ihilaii-
thropist, asked one morning at mis- breakfast
table, on the day when he hoped that the
long protracted guests would depart saying:
80 Lord, bless this provision, and our friends
who leave us to-doyw But my friends,
there aTe alleviations to be put on their side
Of the scale. Perhaps they have not had the
eame refining influences about them in early
hfe that you have had. Perhaps they have
inherited eccentricities that they cannot help
Perhaps it is your duty, by example, to show
them better way. Perhaps they are sent to
be trial for the development of your
patience Perhaps they were to be intended
rs an illustration of the opposite of what
you are trying to inculcate in the minds of
your children: Perhaps it is to make your
home the brighter when they are gone.
When our guests are CHEEKY, and fascinating,
and elegant, it is very easy to entertain
them; but when we find in our guests that
which is antagonistic to our lasts and ssnti-
ment, it is a positive triumph when we can
obey the words of my text and be ''given to
hospitality"
Another trial in the using of this grace is
In the toll and expense of exercising it, In
the we'll regulated household things 20
smoothly, but now you have introduced a
foreign element into the machinery, and
though you may stoutly declare that they
must take things as they find them, the
stove. the ruined dessert, the joint that
proves to be unnasticable, the delayed mar
keting, the perple3ities of caterer the diff.
Guilty of doing proper work, and vet always
heing presentable. Though you may say
there shall be no care or anxiety, there will
be care and there will be anxiety. In 1894
the Captain-General provided a very grand
entertainment, and among other things he
had a fountain in his garden-a fountain of
strong drink In it were four hogsheads of
brandy, eight hogsheads of water, twenty
five thousand lemons, thirteen hunredweight
OF Lisbon sugar, five pounds of grated nut
meg, three hundred toasted biscuits, and q
boat built on purpose was placed in the foun-
tain, and a boy rowed around it and filed
the cups Of the people who came there to be
supplied. Wei, you say that was a lux
furious entertainment, and of course the
man had no anxiety: but have to tell you,
that though you had, or propose, an enter
tainment like that you have anxiety. In
that very thing comes the Divine reward.
We were born to serve; and when we serve
Others we serve God The flush on that
woman's cheek, as she bends over the hot
stove, is as sacred in Gods sight as the flush
ca the cheek OF one who, on a hot day,
with plate, and cutlery, and broom, as GER
tainiy as we can serve Him with psalm book
and liturgy. Margaret, Queen of Norway,
and Sweden, and Denmark, had a royal Gun
OF ten lips, on which was recorded the names
Of the guests who had drunk from this cup.
And every Christian woman has a royal cup,
on which are written all the names OF tbosa
who have ever been entertained by her in
Christian style-names not cut by human
ingenuity, but written by the hand of n
Divine Jesus. But my friends, you are not
20 toll unnecessarily. Though the fare be
plain, cheerful presidency of the table, and
cleanliness Of appointments will be good
enough for anybody that ever comes to
your house. John Howard was invited to
the house OF nobleman He said: II will
come on one condition, and that Is that
you have nothing but potatoes on the table,
Inc requlsition was complied with. CYRUS.
KING OF Persia, under the same circumstances.
prescrlned that on the table there must be
nothing but bread. OF course these were
extremes, but they are illustrations of tho
Iact that more depends upon the banqueters
IMAM upon the banquet. l want to lift this
idea OF Christian Entertainment out of a posi-
i've bondage into a glorious induceinent.
Every anort you put forth, and every dollar
You give to the entertainment of friend or
ZOE you give directly to Christ. Suppose il
were announced that the Lord Jesus Cnrft
would come to this place this week, what
woman in this house would not be glad to
wash for Him, or spread for Him bed, or
bake bread for HIM. There was one of old
who washed for Him, drawing the water
from the well of her own tears. He is com
ing, He will be here tomorrow. "Inasmuch
as ye have done it to one of the least of these,
my brethren, ye have done it to Me" In pict-
tre galleries we have often seen representa-
tons Of Walter Scott and his friends, or
Washington Irving with his associates; but
all those engravings will fade out, while
through everlasting ages, hanging luminous
and conspicuous will be the picture of you
and your Christian guests.
You see we have passed. out from the trials
Into the rewards Of Christian hospitality;
grand, glorious, and eternal. The first re-
ward Of Christian hospitality is the Divine
benediction. When any one attends to
this duty, Gods blessing comes upon him,
upon his companion, upon his children upon
his dining hall, upon his parlor, upon his
nursery. The blessing comes in at the front
door. and the back door, and down through
the slEyligbts. God draws a long mark Of
credit for services received. Christ said to
His disciples: He that receiveth you, re-
ceiveth Me; and be that giveth cup of cold
water in tho name Of disciple shall in no
wise lose his reward" As we have had so
many things recorded against US in heaven,
" will he a satisfaction tn have xyi.fffan an,